Project Yanaris - The Cataclysm

This project is part of an underdevelopment story, the story focuses on the corruption formed by human desires in a fantasy world and how it can affect other creatures. The project is about one of the weapons created using a material called "Moon Rock" which was a creature that caused apocalypse worldwide in ancient times.

My goal was to develop a high-end semi-realistic game asset with a focus on organic modeling. It was also to improve my skills in texturing and sculpting.

Breakdown

Concept Art and Research

I usually start with a silhouette and focus on shape language before delving into other aspects. once I had developed enough designs I start filtering and picking up 1 - 3 designs to develop for a certain set of weapons.
Then I start to study reference weapon proportions to have a clear outline, even if I broke it as I did with the sceptre. Once I finish that I start iterating on the design till I reach an output ready for feedback.

As the story is still under development, some elements were modified while working such as the persona element.

References were divided into 3 sections each with its own sub-sections:
- Design
- Sculpting
- Texturing

Although this whole process was the most fun and creative for me, it was also the hardest to finish. I had to come back from a 3 months on hold and all I had was the initial design only.

Modeling and Sculpting

The cracks were the most critical to sculpt, it also was better for me to create while sculpting not in the concept.  I wanted to create big cracks that flow into each other and create a mystical look.

I tried to use different methods while sculpting such as using noise instead of alphas for snake skin. Sculpts pro and snake hook instead of Dynamesh for malice.

Retopology

I experimented the most here. I tried 3 different methods to ensure which would provide the lowest polygons given a certain time. The results were as the following for the staff body:

Zbrush decimate: 1 - 5 minutes, 20K polygons
Maya auto retopology: 10 - 15 minutes, 15K polygons
Manual retopology: 8 hours - 7.6K polygons

Textures

I used the decimated low poly to test some color palettes, textures, and how much I might need considering texel density. This helped me later on to have a smooth texturing process.

My focus was on albedo more than anything as it was a semi-realistic look that leaned toward stylization more. I had to split the objects far away to bake the normals which was something I am not used to for a single prop.

Light and Rendering

I started with a low-contrast light setup which provided a stylized look that I liked, however, the high-contrast setup made the details pop and supported a better focal point.

Thank you so much for getting all the way to the end of my entry. I hope you liked it! I wish you all the best!